


A Night of Realization for All

by of_books_and_needles



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: All Takes Place in One Night, Angelica is Great at Reading People, Business Party, F/F, Flashbacks, M/M, Matchmaking, Mentions of homophobia, Secret Relationship, terrible summary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9360908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/of_books_and_needles/pseuds/of_books_and_needles
Summary: John and Alex, Angelica, and Eliza all think they're in different places on the same night, under the same sky, having similar epiphanies about different things.Maybe they're not so far away from each other after all.





	

“Hey! Come out! I think your neighbors can hear me.” Said a bold John Laurens as he stood beneath his lover’s window while throwing small rocks at it. He winced as he watched an extra large boulder, that was accidentally thrown, fly towards the window with a loud crack. “Ooh, that might be the one to finally do in the window. How would I explain that to George?”

At the sound of the crack, Alexander Hamilton finally decided to stick his head out the window. He was waiting for the perfect moment to come out and he deduced that emerging out of a broken window would be dramatic as hell and Alex was nothing if not dramatic. Some say he got it from hanging out with Angelica so much.

To his dismay and to John’s relief, the window was not broken and the entrance was not nearly as dramatic. 

That was no matter to Alex and he leaned on the windowsill and bit his lip in what he hoped was a coy way.

“Ah, Laurens. So we meet again. To what do I owe the pleasure of your arrival?” Alex may have had to sacrifice a dramatic entrance but he was still going to act as flirtatious as ever. It was his way of flirting and he was all too aware of its effect on John.

“I was in the neighborhood and I just thought I’d stop by.” The sentence was punctuated with a wink at the end.

Alex snorted knowing that John’s house was nearly a 2 hours walk from Alex’s foster family's’ house and it was not likely that he drove a car there. However, they both acted as if they hadn’t planned out this meeting and that John wasn’t on a strict time limit. You see, John Laurens had a family that was not a fan of homosexual relationships and Alex didn’t want to tell his new foster parents about the relationship just yet.

For a moment, Alex was struck with the passing thought of just how they got in this position. How did he end up becoming the Juliet-like figure waiting for Aphrodite to drop his lover in front of his window?

It was a miracle that they even met. Believers would say that it was all a matter of fate that special night, but the two of them chalked it up to a lot of good food and the help of the Schuyler sisters. A lot of help from the sisters.

John was at a business party with his father seeing as Henry Laurens was the CEO of a rivaling company to George Washington’s and Alex was also there as his foster father was hosting the party. Alex was conversing with Eliza Schuyler, the middle daughter to one of George’s friends, when Angelica, Eliza’s sister, pulled him aside to introduce him to one of her new friends. It seemed like Angelica always met someone new at social events and it was no surprise since she was quite a good conversationalist. 

The new friend was a young man by the name of John Laurens. He had an inviting yet mischievous nature about him, but not an unkind one at that. Eliza followed Alex as Angelica lead the way to John Laurens. He was waiting in the corner of the room and Alex suspected that Angelica had probably abandoned him in the middle of their conversation to find Alex and introduce them. That was in fact true but so charming was Angelica, that he waited for her return in the exact same spot. 

At first glance, John had a lot of brown curly hair pulled back into a ponytail and very plain brown eyes, however, upon closer examination, Alex could see a twinkle in those eyes that could rival the stars as Eliza would say. She was always a bit of a poet. He was wearing a black suit and tie that perfectly complimented his lighter dress shoes. Alex could tell that this would be an interesting man and perhaps he felt a bit of instant attraction for him.

At first glance, Alex had a mop of greasy black hair that was beginning to come out of the loose ponytail that fought to keep it back. No, John thought. It was not greasy but rather, it had a shine to it that worked. Ignoring the under eye bags, he had a lovely set of eyes and a beautiful smile that seemed to grow more and more. This was a force of nature but one that he was willing to dance in.

They introduced themselves and then fell silent. The two young men observed each other oblivious to the outside world. The two Schuyler sisters watched and made their own observations to one another. 

Eliza could see Alex’s emotion in his face and knew that he was helpless. How wonderful it was to be able to witness helplessness in love on someone else’s face. She herself had been told many times that she looked helpless when she first fell in love with someone. Eliza looked over at John’s face and saw a similar emotion in his eyes. He had very bright eyes and though Eliza did not know him well, she felt that they’d be a perfect match for one another. In looking at her sister’s face, she knew Angelica had a more troubling examination of the future couple.

It’s not that Angelica was a matchmaker, though she had set up most of the people in their friend group with the most successful being her sister’s relationship and current engagement to Maria Reynolds, she was just very good at reading people. She also had a habit of prying into other people’s business and finding out their secret desires but she tried not to use her skill. However, she might have to use her skill one more time to get these two loveable fools together. 

Sure it wouldn’t be easy and it might end in flames altogether but it just might be worth it. One of them was a natural disaster creating damage in his wake yet the other seemed to be drawn in by it. The other people Angelica has thought to set up with him all seem too fragile to brave the storm and she herself decided to observe it from a distance, but this new man could change everything. The number of ways that the future could go were uncountable yet Angelica could see them all laid out in front of her. 

Angelica could, with Eliza by her side, go up to the two and arrange a date for the two to meet seeing as they were both as dense as rocks. They had the possibility to be beautiful together. It might be the purest love she’d ever seen. She also could go up to the two and drag them apart as they were just as likely to cause the worse burn and pain to one another. They could bring out the worst in one another but they also could bring out the best. They could become better people because of the other. Angelica determined that the risk for pain was too high and was settled on breaking them up but she looked at her sister’s face and saw the happiness. 

Eliza only saw the future happiness of the relationship and the giddy helplessness of falling in love. She was more focused on the present rather than the long haul. How nice it must be, Angelica thought, to only see the good in things. Maybe ignorance is bliss. And with that, she changed her mind. She would let them be with only a small nudge and nothing else. It’s not like the nudge has to be big. The smallest ripple can rock the pond after all.

Angelica linked arms with Eliza and they marched over to the two men. 

“So. I assume that you’re madly in love by now and that I can call this another successful match to add to my resume and that you’re so infatuated that you don’t even need to talk. Though, there was a study in the New York Times that involved staring into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes to cause love but whatever.” Angelica made a sweeping gesture with the last word. That seemed to immediately break the ice between them.

Eliza was a bit more subtle in her approach and merely introduced herself to John. “I’m Elizabeth Schuyler and you’ve already met my sister Angelica though she may have been using a code name. She’s only done that once but you never know.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Elizabeth, and Alexander too.” John said ignoring the snort from Angelica and Alex when he said Elizabeth.

“You can call me Eliza. That’s what most of them do.”

Angelica saw that the two boys didn’t want to talk in front of them so she thought to make a quick getaway. 

“Eliza. Do you know where Peggy went? I heard her mention that she was going to find a place to spy on people and I think she might have gotten herself caught.”

Eliza looked around the room and saw Peggy in the far corner and opened her mouth to say something when she caught on. “Yes. Let’s go rescue our darling little sister.” She said in an overtly loud way that sounded suspicious. But Eliza really tried her best to act.

John and Alex watched the two sisters walk away and Alex pretended not to see Peggy on the other side of the room. 

“So. You’re Henry Laurens’ son.” Alex initiated the conversation and John followed his lead. They continued talking as the night went on about things they don’t remember today. Time didn’t stop but it didn’t move quickly at all. At the end of the party, all they regained was that they had a date arranged for the next day in a coffee shop. And the rest was history.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Alex transported out of his memories and smiled down at John. The first time he got lost in memories around John, Alex was worried that John would leave in the time he was unresponsive but he was always there at the end. This time, John was on his back on the grass staring up at the sky. 

“Hey there.” Alex said still slightly embarrassed but still attempting to sound cool. 

“Hello Alexander. The stars are lovely tonight.”

“There are no stars, it’s cloudy tonight.”

“Perhaps I can see through those clouds. Or maybe I’m talking about the stars in your eyes.”

“That’s corny. And sweet, but mostly corny.”

“So. What were you reliving this time? That is, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Just how we met. I never realized just how much Angelica and Eliza helped us meet. We’ll have to thank them someday.”

“We already got them a fruit basket. It’s weird to think that we only met a few months ago. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“Perhaps it’s true when they say we’re asleep until we fall in love.”

And for that perfect moment. The couple was at peace. They ignored the fact that John would have to leave soon so he wouldn’t get home too close to morning. They pretended that they wouldn’t have to meet at the Schuyler’s house to see one another again. They acted that John wouldn’t have to tell his family that he was visiting Angelica Schuyler, who his family most definitely approved of. Alex would have to say that he was going to hang out with Eliza, his known best friend.

They ignored everything that told them that they couldn’t be together and just lived. They were at peace.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angelica had known Alex and John would make a good couple. Anyone could see that. She wasn’t wrong when she said that it was pure love and not in a sexual way. It was a storybook love that Angelica had read of and it wasn’t as catastrophic as she feared. 

It probably had to do with the fact that their relationship was still a secret to most. Eliza had begged to let her tell the Washingtons’ for she knew how accepting they’d be but Angelica stopped her. After all, it wasn’t their secret to tell even though they had basically done all the heavy lifting. Though she was surprised when the fruit basket and matching box of chocolates arrived at her doorstep one day. 

Angelica and Eliza let Alex and John meet over at their house to date. She knew that John had told his father that he was hanging out with Angelica but she didn’t mind. None of this was her’s to tell. She wasn’t going to worry about the day John’s father wanted to officially meet her as his son’s girlfriend. They would cross that bridge when they got there. 

She was aware of the private rendezvous of the two lovers yet she never asked about them. She had debated on asking Eliza to casually talk to Alex about John and how things were going but deduced that she’d find out herself if anything really interesting happened. 

Angelica was trying to only meddle in situations when she is needed or when the time calls for her to step in and while it was arguable, she thought the time is right. Maybe this would be her life. Always helping other people's lives move with no one to help kick start her own. Or maybe she missed her chance to jump start her life. 

This is what Angelica was thinking about as she hid in the tree outside of Alex’s house. She was planning on ringing the doorbell and talking to him but she saw John walking up the driveway and dove for the trees. Eliza would be pissed that she missed watching one of their secret dates but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. 

After listening to the conversation for a few minutes, she soon grew bored. Don’t get her wrong, they were intoxicatingly sweet. Just how she thought they’d be. They managed to make mundane sentences seem romantic. There just wasn’t anything juicy happening and she felt kinda weird listening in on them, yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

To pass the time, Angelica laid on the grass within the trees and thought. She had always wondered why she never found her love and how she’s always the one finding other people’s love. 

She also noticed that she was always seen as the witty and dramatic one who takes no shit from anyone. That definitely wasn’t a bad thing to be known for. Angelica had worked hard for that kind of reputation but she contrasted that to Eliza’s reputation. They couldn’t be more different yet they and Peggy were closer than any other siblings of theirs.

She pondered a few other philosophical questions and she found all of her answers under the night sky. Angelica didn’t even notice her missing hair ribbon as she fell asleep.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Angelica would be shocked. Eliza was in a grove of trees in front of Alex’s window. 

It’s not like she’s spying, no, she’s trying to help. And that was true. Eliza would never spy with malicious intent. She just wanted to be able to talk to Alex about any of his and John’s problems before they escalated and tore apart their relationship. Eliza thought that disagreements were the downfall to many of Alex’s relationships.

Eliza thought that if she could get rid of the problems at the beginning, they wouldn’t appear later on with more force. In that way, she was a bit naive. She was a firm believer in true love and that love would prevail against all odds. Angelica disagreed with that but they never talked about it.

Eliza snuck out of the Schuyler’s house trying not to wake Angelica and Peggy. She walked the 10 minutes to Alex’s house and picked a tree to hid in directly under his window. Eliza threw her shoe up to window and waited for a response. Her sisters always threw a shoe up to let him know it was them but this time, Alex whispered the name John. Eliza sat under the window confused for a minute then it clicked.

Ah, Alex was waiting for John. What perfect timing, she thought. And with that thought, Eliza hid in the tree. She’d wait it out and listen in. 

Once John arrived, the conversation picked up and then went away abruptly. There wasn’t as much to analyze as she hoped there would be but that was ok. Eliza instead stared into the deep green grass beneath her and pondered about her life. 

Eliza didn’t know that her sister was just a few feet away until she heard a loud snoring sound from a farther group of trees. The first time she heard it, she ignored it saying that it was all in her head until it sounded again. 

This time, she thought it sounded familiar and wandered towards the source of the sound. She saw a figure lying on the ground in a pink bathrobe and knew it was Angelica. She couldn’t believe it. Angelica had also snuck out. What next? Was Peggy hiding on the roof? 

Eliza decided not to wake her sister and left Alex’s house not noticing that she’d left her shoes under the trees.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Angelica went back to her house a few hours later, she pretended not to notice the grass stains on the rug outside of Eliza’s room and in the morning, she got up without a word to Eliza about it. 

When Alex went outside the next morning, he pretended not to notice the pink hair ribbon on the ground and placed it along with the blue shoes in the Schuyler's’ mailbox without a note.

The night ended with Alex, Angelica, and Eliza each knowing of the others’ presence yet they never spoke about it. All of them realized new things that night yet they never shared them with each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like the story kind of changed halfway through but I'm ok with that. I think the beginning feels different than the end and I like the beginning more, but whatever. I really like Angelica, though. And see if you can spot the War and Peace reference in here.
> 
> Let me know what you think. I live for comments.


End file.
